Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Celebration GIVEAWAY: Bones & Fat Cookbooks

Well, today we are celebrating my little man's birthday! I know every mom says this, but... I seriously can not believe he is already 1 year old. Time just flies faster and faster with each kid!

It is my goal to share the birth story later today in honor of Tobias' birthday. I have to tell you! It is an amazing story of faith, trust and... well, I get to that later :o)

Before I get to the giveaway... let me share a few highlights of Tobias' first year of life.

Everybody fell in love with this little guy... my girls are especially crazy about him. How can they not be?! I am SO grateful that there has been no jealousy issues between my girls and this little guy. None at all.

He has proven to be a very strong-will little guy... my third strong-will child *sigh*. Life is sure very loud and noisy in the Beard household! All 3 of my kids have very strong spirits and lungs. People often ask me if it is hard for me to hear them... my answer is always, "Ha! No, God has blessed me with very loud children. If I think they are loud... can't imagine how loud they are to you!"

He began to crawl around 9 months old, but started walking before he was 10 months old! He loves following my girls around and doesn't let them push him around. Almost everyday I often see him do things and say, "He is SUCH a BOY!". Seriously, after having two girls... I am amazed just how different Tobi is and it sometimes feels like he is my first child.

Tobi has had more bumps, bruises & cuts on his head and face then both my girls combined when they were babies! Thankfully he isn't much of a crier and gets right back in the action after a few minutes in mama's arms ;o)

It has been an awesome year with this little man and I am so blessed! Thank you Lord! Happy Birthday Tobias!

Now, the second giveaway!

To one winner, I am giving away 2 delicious & savory cookbooks:

These two cookbooks are deliciously amazing... just reading through the recipes and look at the pictures make me feel nourished and well-fed! LOL!

Jennifer McLagan has done a wonderful job of explaining everything you need to know to appreciate the benefits of eating wholesome bones and fat. I love her witty sense of humor thrown in at just the right places. You can read Jennifer's bio here.

These two books are vital in my kitchen these days! I just love how there is so much you can learn and do with just bones and fat.... and still thrive in good health. Here's a simple write up on Fat cookbook (taken from Amazon.com):

For all of history, minus the last thirty years, fat has been at the center of human diets and cultures. When scientists theorized a link between saturated fat and heart disease, industry, media, and government joined forces to label fat a greasy killer, best avoided. But according to Jennifer McLagan, not only is our fat phobia overwrought, it also hasn’t benefited us in any way. Instead it has driven us into the arms of trans fats and refined carbohydrates, and fostered punitive, dreary attitudes toward food–that wellspring of life and pleasure.

In Fat, McLagan sets out with equal parts passion, scholarship, and appetite to win us back to a healthy relationship with animal fats. She starts by defusing fat’s bad rap, both reminding us of what we already know–that fat is fundamental to the flavor of our food–and enlightening us with the many ways fat (yes, even animal fat) is indispensable to our health.

Mostly, though, Fat is about pleasures–the satisfactions of handling good ingredients skillfully, learning the cultural associations of these primal foodstuffs, recollecting and creating personal memories of beloved dishes, and gratifying the palate and the soul with fat’s irreplaceable savor. Fat lavishes the reader with more than 100 recipes from simple to intricate, classic to contemporary, including:

Observing that though we now know everything about olive oil, we may not know what to do with lard or bone marrow, McLagan offers extensive guidance on sourcing, rendering, flavoring, using, and storing animal fats, whether butter or bacon, schmaltz or suet. Stories, lore, quotations, and tips touching on fat’s place in the kitchen and in the larger culture round out this rich and unapologetic celebration of food at its very best.

The one thing I learned from her Fat cookbook is chicken fat is delicious used for frying up corn tortillas! Oh my!

Top food stylist and food writer Jennifer McLagan has a bone to pick: too often, people opt for boneless chicken breasts, fish fillets, and cutlets, when good cooks know that anything cooked on the bone has more flavor -- from chicken or spareribs to a rib roast or a whole fish. In Bones, Jennifer offers a collection of recipes for cooking beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, fish, and game on their bones.

Chicken, steak, and fish all taste better when cooked on the bone, but we've sacrificed flavor for speed and convenience, forgetting how bones can enhance the taste, texture, and presentation of good food -- think of rack of lamb, T-bone steak, chicken noodle soup, and baked ham. In her simple, bare-bones style, Jennifer teaches home cooks the secrets to cooking with bones.

Each chapter of Bones includes stocks, soups, ribs, legs, and extremities (except for whole fish -- they don't have any). Many of the recipes are simple, with the inherent flavors of the bones doing most of the work. There are traditional, elegant dishes, such as Roasted Marrow Bones with Parsley Salad, Olive-Crusted Lamb Racks, and Crown Roast of Pork, as well as new takes on homestyle favorites, such as Maple Tomato Glazed Ribs, Coconut Chicken Curry, and Halibut Steaks with Orange Cream Sauce. Stunning, full-color photographs of dishes like Rabbit in Saffron Sauce with Spring Vegetables; Grilled Quail with Sage Butter; and Duck Legs with Cumin, Turnips, and Green Olives are sure to inspire.

In addition to the recipes, Bones includes a wealth of information on a wide range of bone-related topics, including the differences among cuts of meat, as well as the history and lore of bones.

The one think I've grown to appreciate about living in Central America is how much people here appreciate the WHOLE animal. They use everything! Tongue, stomach, heart, hoof, head, tail and so on. I love grinding heart in with my ground beef... adds such a nice flavor. Oh and tongue is simply delicious... once you get past the weird feeling that you are "french kissing" the cow. LOL!! Using calf's hoof in my homemade beef broth has made a big difference in flavor... so rich!

There are a few butchers in the town next to us that often hang a whole cow in their station and will not close down until every piece of that cow has sold. Nothing goes to waste... talk about being frugal and smart!

So, you can have a total of 4 entries today and one everyday until December 31stJanuary 14th! This giveaway is only open to US residents and the winner will be selected via random.org at the end of this month. Winner will be contacted in January.

Also, don't forget you can purchase Just Making Ice Cream for a suggested donation of $8 through this month! That is $4 off the original suggested donation.

I loved snuggling up in a blanket near the tree to read books, surrounded by family (and my doll). Another memory that stands out is the little bag of treats we would get at church each Christmas that included that delicious mandarin orange! :)

1st off Happy Birthday tobia. my favorite memory is eating! Our family always ate at gatherings, we loved our food and I would love tasting food from other peoples homes as they were so different and unique. Bones and Fat intrigue me becuase I think they would be good old recipes that our grandparents would have made. I notice as the generations go down the line we go more processed, more ease and less good old food. I would love these cookbooks.

Happy Birthday to your little man! He's such a sweetie! My little man just turned one on the 10th of last month! Those cookbooks look awesome! Would love to win them, thanks for the giveaway opportunity!

My favorite Christmas memory was when my siblings and I were still pre-teen. We would open and play with our presents while my mom was at work. And, when she returned, they were perfectly wrapped as if nothing was amiss. I miss those days!

My favorite Christmas memory is when I was young gathering on Christmas day to celebrate my great-grandmother's birthday. She lived to 90 years old and was a loving, strong woman. So Christmas eve was about presents and Christmas day was church, then Grandma Margaret.melissamberry@hotmail.com

So enjoyed meeting you and your family when you were in Iowa last fall, Marillyn. I hope you are having a fun & fruitful year homeschooling. Happy birthday to little Tobias! Okay, not my favorite Christmas memory, but one my entire family will never forget. We were all gathered in the living room at my parents home (I was a teen then), visiting and sipping apple cider. Glancing to the hall, I noticed movement on the steps. Low & behold it was a mouse jumping down the steps! I watched in suprise, and then screamed as he reached the hall floor and ran right into the living room and under the couch. Within seconds all the women were up and out of the room or standing on the furniture! It didn't bother the guys one bit!

There are too many 'favorite' Christmas memories to select just one!The first that comes to mind is when we lived in MT and drove to OR to celebrate Christmas with extended family. I got to sleep under the pool table with my cousins whom I was meeting for the first time and wake up to Christmas morning by the tree.

These cookbooks sound amazing! My favorite Christmas memory is actually fairly recent. When we lived far from family and my kids were 3 and 8 months we had a wonderfully slow Christmas day opening gifts as the kids decided they were ready for another one. No rushing, no traveling, just enjoying the day together.

Favorite Christmas memory #2?My grandparents coming to visit and my grandpa making me a wooden doll-sized rocking chair that came apart and was put back together like a puzzle with a wooden key on the back. (My girls play with that rocking chair now.)

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I am not a doctor... just a mama who believes in feeding her family real, wholesome foods. The information you find here at just-making-noise is meant to help you make healthier living and eating choices. However, this site is only for informational and educational purposes. My postings where I have talked about health benefits of what we do nutritionally are not intended for you to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please do your own research as I have done and discuss with your own qualified health care provider before adding in supplements or making any changes in your diet. Thank you!

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